Agios Ioannis Cathedral

Within the Archbishop’s Palace precinct is the church of Agios Ioannis, which doubles as the city’s cathedral. In its scale and simplicity it seems to put to shame the extravagant architecture of the palace itself. Built in 1662 on the site of a previous Lusignan Benedictine abbey, it wasn’t actually promoted to cathedral status until 1720. The interior is as splendid as its exterior is modest, boasting an original set of frescoes (including one from St Barnanas’s tomb in Salamis), a carved and gold-leaf adorned iconostasis and four large icons, all dating from the eighteenth century. The cathedral contains the throne on which the archbishop is crowned, together with seating for the president and the Greek ambassador to be used on state occasions.